


The Years After Sunset

by MidnightNereid



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Genre: Multi, Truly indulgent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-28
Updated: 2015-01-28
Packaged: 2018-03-09 11:51:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3248636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightNereid/pseuds/MidnightNereid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Seven failed, but Jason Grace's sacrifice bought the gods their precious stability and, more importantly, a fighting chance. So they did exactly that: fight...by which one meant using their children to fight.</p><p>Eight children in a time of wars and too many half-spoken riddles. But it was all they had ever known.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Years After Sunset

**Author's Note:**

> My only excuses are free time and a vague yet inescapable dislike of the Blood of Olympus ending.

Winter was a miserable affair in New England. Jean had been warned as much, and even his pride hadn't been enough to stop him from ignoring the suggestion to bring warm clothing, but he had never in his life expected for it to be [i]this bad.[/i]

Twenty hours spent in the United States and already he was quite convinced the country was only a collection of special hells held together by fast food chains and bad traffic. He buried himself deeper, miserably, into his parka and hoped he in turn would not be buried by the snow that was coming down fast and steady.

In France, there had never been this kind of problem.

He missed France.

The walker lights blinked from the red hand to the green walking sign, but it took Jean a moment to realize it had switched at all - visibility was slowly going poor - and another moment to work the ice out of his nerves enough to actually move his legs. He only crossed to the other side long after the lights had changed again, but that hardly mattered. There was not a soul on the roads, self-preservation being a powerful incentive to stay inside indeed. The shop windows Jean passed were all dark, or shuttered close; walking in this weather really made one feel like he was alone in the whole wide world.

Except he wasn't. He knew that too. That was why he was spending strictly more than necessary time in this country when the teleportation circle was right there under the walker lights.

Jean hurried his pace, striding purposefully to a destination that did not exist, and eventually turned a corner. There was a big trash can in there. The hilarity of hiding in it to lose his pursuer briefly crossed his mind before he dismissed it with a scowl. There was such a thing as dignity. Even if his joints felt like they were all frozen. That wasn't a good thing, now that he thought about it. His agility was compromised. He might fail the jump.

But he wouldn't. He hid behind the trash can, crouched down, rubbed his hands together. Fire sparked between them - not metaphorically; physically, and blue - before fading again. In Jean's mind the runes appeared, glowing like brands. He smiled and waited.

For many long seconds there was only silence. Then the snow crunched at the mouth of the alley, and footsteps cautiously drew closer. They paused for a moment before continuing on. Jean tensed - just a little more...

Then there was something cold and hair-splittingly [i]sharp[/i] pressed against his jugular pulse. "Your footprints disappeared right next to the trash can," a little girl whispered in his ear. "That was really sloppy."

To Jean's credit, he only swallowed once before regaining his composure. "That was a test. Good job, you passed."

The girl snorted, and the only thing that kept it from being hurtful was the amusement that rode on the sound. The sharpness withdrew, and in that moment Jean released the spell, turned the runes from mind to body.

A bright flash burst between them, throwing the girl back with a scream. Jean scrambled to his feet, slid on the snowy ground, regained his balance, and spun. He threw up his hands; white mist flooded the ground in front of him and a lioness formed, springing, her fangs bared.

His attacker was already gone; melted into the shadow like she had never been there to begin with. She materialized behind him, but the mist was there too, and spears rose from it to keep her back. The lioness circled around, snarling, but did not attack. The girl puffed up her cheeks and glared. "Cheater," she accused huffily. "I already got you."

"Très bien." He smirked, lowering his hands. The mist and the spears and the lioness melted away, vanishing. There was only the two of them left on the street: a tall, russet-haired teenager and a little girl of nine years, a dagger of gleaming Celestial bronze in her hand. She was even dressed cutely, in her Hello Kitty scarf and Dora the Explorer-purple parka.

She returned the weapon to its sheath on her waist and ran straight at him, tackling him around the waist. Jean grinned and ruffled her ebony hair.

"Hell of a way to say hi, Shanira," he said affectionately.

She looked up at him with gleaming dark eyes, white teeth bared in a grin. "You've been away hell of a long time!" Then she lowered her voice. "You didn't stop at the spot. Did you think someone else was following you?"

"No one in particular," Jean said easily and swung her up into his arms, grunting. "You got fat!"

Shanira punched him on the cheek. "Hey!"

"Ouch! You brat! I'm going to dr-" Jean sputtered as Shanira's hand clamped over his mouth just as quickly, but at her hiss he froze up, stood still, then ducked behind the trash can again. Clomping footsteps and more hissing, from a different direction. Reptilian.

Jean glanced at Shanira, who mouthed, _Evan is going to kill you._ The reminder made his mouth twitch, threatening to frown, but he didn't move. Shanira quietly wiggled out of his grasp, her duffle coat rubbing against his. The noises intensified into a snarl.

When the Gorgon rounded the corner and charged into view, however, the demigods were already gone.


End file.
